ATCO and Australian Gas Infrastructure Group’s plans for a commercial scale, green hydrogen production facility are set to become a reality with the announcement today that their Clean Energy Innovation Park project has received $28.7M in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
The CEIP is intended to establish Australia’s first commercial scale green hydrogen supply chain, including a 10MW electrolyser and plant capable of producing up to 4.0 tonnes of hydrogen per day, along with storage and delivery to the gas network injection points.
ATCO Australia Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Creaghan said this was an exciting step for ATCO, and for Western Australia’s progress towards achieving its hydrogen goals.
Patrick Creaghan, ATCO Australia Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer
“We’ve been investing in hydrogen since 2017 and are strong believers in its value as we strive towards a cleaner energy future. The development of the CEIP has the dual benefit of not only contributing to the decarbonisation of the gas distribution network, it also allows us to generate the economies of scale required to expand the demand and use of renewable hydrogen as a commercially viable fuel.”
Ben Wilson, AGIG’s CEO
“ATCO and AGIG are already significant players in the Western Australia gas market, providing distribution and transmission services respectively, and the CEIP joint venture brings together our strengths to establish a commercial hydrogen sector in the state. We look forward to working with ATCO who bring with them extensive energy and hydrogen industry experience locally and internationally.”
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said renewable hydrogen presents an opportunity to help reduce emissions globally and locally, transform our energy system, and create a new export industry for Australia.
We’re excited to have chosen three projects we believe will help kickstart renewable hydrogen production in Australia at a large scale. One of the projects will see clean hydrogen used to make ammonia for export and the other two will blend clean hydrogen into our gas pipelines to help decarbonise our natural gas networks. Our hydrogen industry in Australia is in its infancy, so the lessons learned from these three projects – and the entire funding round – will be important in driving our future hydrogen economy.
Darren Miller ,ARENA CEO
The CEIP is planned to be co-located with the 180MW Warradarge Wind Farm in Western Australia’s Mid-West, which will provide the renewable electricity to power the electrolyser. Hydrogen generated will then be transported via truck to gas network injection points.
Funding will enable additional planning work to take place, with a Final Investment Decision estimated in December 2022.
